The water in the backcountry is probably cleaner than the tap water you get in D.C...

'Intensely unpleasant' cloud tsunami? Like the earlier commenters, I find this quite beautiful! However, I fail to see any connection with the 'Composite Sketch of Literature's Most Famous Pedophile'.

Needs more Rubens. Think of what you could mesmerizingly jiggle!

Ok, sounds reasonable. But what about the saying that a drop of oil can spoil a huge amount of water/groundwater - is that incorrect?

Since reading 'kerosene' and 'without risking contaminating...' in one paragraph I have a somewhat contorted expression on my face. Can you make that go away again? Somehow?

Exactly what I think. I'm in the market for a camera; my last one was the old Oly OM-1 (seemingly a hundred years ago) - beautiful machine, purely mechanical, good optics, I loved it). I'd like to go back to a 'new' OM, but yes, Sony's APC sensor is just a different beast. Lenses aren't as good though, but I could use…

Not sure whether 4.8x3.5x1.7 inches can be called 'large'. I think that particularly for cameras ergonomics play an important role - and from a certain size downward a camera just becomes more difficult to handle. Same goes for weight - you'e less likely to show tremor when holding a brick, as compared to holding a…

There's a story for Adam Frucci in there, I reckon. Only he can give it the right in-depth coverage.

final ascent to Halfdome (normal route) / Yosemite

Yeeehaaaa! No mo' waiting on the way down!

chrrrt... chrrrt... oooommmm

I always find delight in how buzzwords make their rounds, and how people fall for them. Just because a device rakes the sand like in a Japanese garden, you call it 'Zen', notwithstanding the fact that the 'Zen' aspect comes from DOING this actively, in contemplation (and free of desires like a luxury car...).

Regarding cruises, I'm totally with you - all you can really do on a ship is hang around the bar and getting pissed like fish. Being on sea isn't too exciting after a few days (skeet-shooting only carries you so far), and the stop-overs are, in my opinion, just too short to get to know anything. You flock into the…

I think one needs to also look at the bigger picture here: These therapies are not 'evidence-based', and there is currently no solid scientific basis for their effectiveness. The reasoning can be disputed, of course, but FDA tries to get a handle on practices that are a bit iffy, to say the least.

Not sure whether Andrew Tarantola is happy about you publishing a spider story, Casey - that's his turf! He might already have nefariously put up a web behind your door. Bwahahaha...

Riiiiight. Now - what kind of music are you listening to?!

Ok - I see that point, I hadn't thought of movies. Yes, It'd be very disturbing if something whooshed in acoustically from the right, while visually from the left.

What exactly is the problem with swapping the channels? Our brain puts them together anyway - no matter whether channel 1 is coming in from the left or the right side. What am I missing here?

Now wait - this is your second spider story within 2 weeks! This isn't random anymore... I see someone slowly changing behind his desk... Growing additional legs, eyes... dun...dun...dunnn. Mr. Tarantola - are you ok? Is San Francisco safe? IS IT??

...and goes well with incense sticks, too!